PHOENIX, Arizona, March 21. SWIMMING fans were treated to a very fast meet last week at the NCSA Junior National Championships in Orlando, Florida. SEVEN NAG records were set over the course of the five-day meet. SwimmingWorld.TV was on-deck bringing viewers live and on-demand coverage of the event, sponsored by SpeedoUSA.
On the first night of finals, 14-year-old Matthew Hirschberger of Clearwater Aquatics nabbed a 13-14 NAG record in the 1000 yard freestyle. He clocked a 9:02.37, dropping over 21 seconds from his previous best for the event win. Nicholas Caldwell set the previous 13-14 mark in 2008 at a 9:07.95.
Matthew Hirschberger 1000 Freestyle:
On the second night of finals, and the first full day of competition, First Colony's Simone Manuel (16) won the 100 freestyle in a 47.73, setting a new 15-16 NAG record in the process. Dagny Knutson held the record prior to Manuel's swim at a 47.80, swum in 2008.
Simone Manuel 100 Freestyle:
Following in Manuel's footsteps, Dynamo's Kylie Stewart (16) snagged her own 15-16 NAG record later in the night in the 200 backstroke. Her 1:50.66 event-winning time beat Elizabeth Pelton's 1:50.72 in 2010.
Kylie Stewart 200 Backstroke:
Spectators didn't event have to wait for a finals session to watch NAG records fall. In the prelims of the women's 100 yard butterfly on the fourth day of competition, YMCA of Dane County's Elizabeth Nelson (14) claimed the event's 13-14 NAG record. Her 53.36 broke the 53.44 mark shared by Felicia Lee (2006) and Kendyl Stewart (2009). Nelson placed third in the event in finals behind NCAP's Janet Hu and AGUA's Lia Neal.
Elizabeth Nelson 100 Butterfly:
Several hours after Nelson's 13-14 NAG record, NCAP's Andrew Seliskar set his first 15-16 NAG record of the meet in the 200 yard breaststroke. Seliskar's winning 1:54.87 time highlighted the fourth night of finals, especially considering the previous NAG was nearly a full two seconds slower — 1:56.46 set by Cody Miller in 2008. Seliskar's time also moved him into the top 50 all time in the event's history.
Andrew Seliskar 200 Breaststroke:
The fifth and finals night of finals saw two NAG records fall. First Andrew Seliskar lowered the 15-16 NAG record in the 200 yard IM by over a second, clocking a 1:44.03 to win the race by 2.21 seconds. Gunnar Bentz held the record previously at a 1:45.17, set in 2012.
Andrew Seliskar 200 IM:
Capping off the meet was Simone Manuel in the women's 50 yard freestyle. She won the splash-and-dash with a 22.04, taking the 15-16 NAG record away from second-place finisher Janet Hu, who set the mark in 2012 at a 22.13.
Simone Manuel 50 Freestyle:
Already, 2013 has been an incredible year for 18&U swimming. Check out the full USA Swimming NAG Short Course Grid.
Also check out Streamlined News for a breakdown of all of the NAG records re-written last week, including a handful at the Speedo Champions Series meets in Nashville, Tennessee and Federal Way, Washington.